Could
your local letter carrier be a spy for the U.S. Department of Justice?
Starting in August, might he snoop in your mail or report "suspicious
activities" behind your back?

Maybe. Though the U.S. Postal Service opted out of this intrusive program on
July 17, it reconsider its wise decision the next day.

And don't rule out the utility workers, teamsters or meter readers who serve
your home and community. If they are numbered among the one million
neighborhood spies hired by our government as part of a pilot project, they
may well be keeping an eye on your family and activities. What's more, their
subjective observations could wind up in the massive national and
international networks of databanks tracking human resources around the
world.

Hard to believe? Then visit the Bush administration's Citizen Corps website.
It introduces a government operation called TIPS (Terrorism Information and
Prevention System) that will be launched in August. There, we learn that -

"...the Terrorism Information and Prevention System - will be a nationwide
program giving millions of American truckers, letter carriers, train
conductors, ship captains, utility employees, and others a formal way to
report suspicious terrorist activity. Operation TIPS, a project of the U.S.
Department of Justice, will begin as a pilot program in 10 cities that will
be selected.

"Operation TIPS, involving 1 million workers in the pilot stage, will be a
national reporting system that allows these workers, whose routines make
them well-positioned to recognize unusual events, to report suspicious
activity.... Everywhere in America, a concerned worker can call a toll-free
number and be connected directly to a hotline...."[3] Read the note.

Perhaps our government assumes that people are too afraid of terrorism -- or
too oblivious to the recent history of totalitarian oppression -- to see the
threats behind this program. But ignorance is never bliss to those who have
faced the tyranny of Nazism, the cruelties of Soviet socialism or the
betrayal of civilian spies who masquerade as trusted neighbors.

The last of those practices is being revived in China as well as in America.
In an article titled "China's Neighborly Snoops Reinvent Themselves," Eric
Eckholm wrote,

“The old ‘neighborhood committees’ that watched over every household are
among the more obnoxious memories of the early decades of Communist rule.
Staffed… by one’s nosiest neighbors, the committees were empowered to
scrutinize every visitor, report every antisocial activity and even monitor
pregnancies….

"With the decline of Marxist fervor… the committees waned…. Now, with
experiments in Shenyang and 19 other cities, the government is trying to
reinvent this venerable institution."[4]

I barely remember the last year of World War II. Hitler's forces had
occupied Norway, and my father faced torture and probable death in a Nazi
concentration camp for his part in the Norwegian resistance movement. My
grandparents' homes had been confiscated by Nazi officials and their
sympathizers who had succumbed to the politically correct dogma and heady
promises of power and prosperity.

Neighbors were afraid to trust each other. A chilling message on a plaque in
the "Nazi Propaganda" section of the Holocaust Museum (Washington DC)
explains why:

"The Gestapo gathered much of its information from private citizens. Even
children were taught to report on their parents. The Gestapo's main sources,
however, were Nazi party officials who constantly monitored the activities
of all citizens [and] used such information to track political opponents."

Could this be happening in America? Strange as it seems, it could. And with
today's sophisticated information and surveillance technology, no one would
be free from the prying eyes of an intrusive government and its willing
servants. Consider these reasons:

1. The blueprint for social control and loss of freedom was drawn decades
ago. In 1934, former NEA Executive Secretary Willard Givens warned that
"...all of us, including the 'owners', must be subjected to a large degree
of social control... the major function of the school is the social
orientation of the individual. It must seek to give him understanding of the
transition to a new social order." [see Chronology] The leader of the
powerful National Education Association would have been pleased with our
"progress."

Two years earlier, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World had shed some light on
the change process. The masses would have to be so addicted to pleasure and
so dulled by trivial pursuits that few would resist the envisioned
transformation.[5] Like the proverbial frog, the masses would barely notice
the rising heat.

2. School children are trained to tattle on each other. While the 9-11
crisis conveniently prepared the adult masses to accept oppressive controls,
the promotion of community spies had already begun to change the minds of
our children. Bolstered by the school shootings of recent years, our
government put increasing pressure on students, as well as staff, to report
all activities that fit a new list of politically incorrect behaviors and
attitudes.

To the dismay of agencies that sought more control, many children resisted
telling on their friends. "It's the same story over and over," said June
Arnette, associate director of the National Schools Safety Center (NSSC),
"They don't want to be a snitch."[6]

Even so, the NSSC's guidelines call for tattling on friends and relatives as
well as strangers. Its "40 promising strategies" includes social tactics
that match UN strategies for conforming "the mental health of the
population"[7] to global standards. For example, tactic No. 6 prompts
educators to "Encourage students to report any suspicious individuals on
school grounds. Provide students and staff with a toll-free, anonymous
hotline."[8]

3. The neighborhood spies extends a pattern already tested in schools. When
students use those anonymous "hot-lines" to report on classmates, they are
not asked to prove their suspicions nor back accusations with witnesses.
While most of the student informers probably tell the truth, others could
feed slanderous reports into the government's life-long file on someone who
happens to offend them. [See Zero Tolerance For Non-Compliance] The victim
would never see the message or be able to set the record straight.

"Lifelong learning" is key to the international education system that links
American education to the UNESCO blueprint. All people - from cradle to
grave - become part of a system intent on producing "responsible" global
citizens for the global community. Promoting solidarity by reporting
non-compliance is part of that responsibility.

In his article, "US planning to recruit one in 24 Americans as citizen
spies," investigative journalist Ritt Goldstein includes this warning:

"Historically, informant systems have been the tools of non-democratic
states. According to a 1992 report by Harvard University's Project on
Justice, the accuracy of informant reports is problematic, with some
informants having embellished the truth, and others suspected of having
fabricated their reports.

"Present Justice Department procedures mean that informant reports will
enter databases for future reference and/or action. The information will
then be broadly available within the department, related agencies and local
police forces. The targeted individual will remain unaware of the existence
of the report and of its contents."[9]

4. "Mental Health" and "hate crimes" policies promote such reporting. At the
1997 White House conference on Hate Crimes, former President Clinton
announced that "The Justice Department will make its own hate crimes
training curriculum available. A lot of hate crimes still go unreported....
If a crime is unreported, that gives people an excuse to ignore it." Then he
announced a Justice Department website which invites children to tell
"trusted adults" about "hateful" or exclusive expressions they might hear at
home -- such as a negative comment about unbiblical lifestyles.[10]

The UN plan for "Healthy Cities and Communities" makes this kind of
"prevention" a personal duty. "I challenge our young people to realize their
important role in this seamless system," said former DHHS Secretary Donna
Shalala at the 1996 National Children’s Mental Health Initiative. "Many
times, you as friends are the strongest link in the chain of contact. You
know best when your brother, your sister or your friend is facing
problems..."[11]

Her call for young spies goes far beyond the need to stop violence, and each
dramatic social crisis justifies more government control. We shouldn’t be
surprised. "Brother will betray brother..." warned Jesus, "and children will
rise up against parents.... And you will be hated by all for My name’s
sake." Mark 13:12-13

5. All must be included in the global network of data banks. On July 16,
1996, President Clinton signed Executive Order #13011, creating a massive
new bureaucracy with authority to manage "Federal Information Technology."
It links the data gathered by the health, education, and labor departments
to the data accessible to the FBI, CIA, EPA, other federal agencies and
international data systems.

Standing alone, this executive order might raise little alarm. But examined
in the light of UN documents and stated government intentions, it looks
ominous. The UN has called for a sophisticated international computerized
information system that would (1) disseminate its politically correct data
and pseudo-scientific risk assessments into every community, (2) build
consensus based on its visions, goals, values, and choices, then (3) monitor
individual and collective compliance everywhere--including our homes.

That data tracking system was mandated in the Beijing Platform for Action,
the official UN document signed by the nations at the close of the 1995 UN
Conference for Women. "Develop gender-sensitive databases, information and
monitoring systems," it states. It calls for the "consistent flow of
information" among "national, subregional/regional [FEMA?] and international
institutions" - all under the watchful guidance of the United Nations Social
and Economic Council. [12]

So when President Clinton established an agency to oversee the
implementation of the Beijing Platform, he endorsed a system that would
snoop into homes, schools and workplaces. When in place, it would monitor
all citizens and organizations (including churches) for compliance with
feminist views on gender and a woman's place in the family and society. [See
Mine is the Power]

6. Global surveillance networks lessen government accountability. The
European Union (EU) wants communications companies to record all phone
calls, e-mails, faxes and net use -- an easy challenge with today's
technology.[13] Echelon may be the most extensive global network. It allows
the USA, Australia, England and Canada to bypass their own constitutional
bans on domestic spying by spying for each other, then sharing the
information. In other words, Canada can't spy on its own citizens, but the
USA can legally spy for Canada -- making a mockery of law."

7. "Community Policing" programs have been preparing people to accept
neighborhood spies. The website for the San Mateo (CA) program explains the
new policy: "...continued communication must be maintained with the
community. Keep them informed; this provides for a sense of accomplishment
and opens up the citizenry to bring forward other problems. Reinforce the
philosophy that citizens are the eyes and ears of the community."[14]

To win support for its Neighborhood Watch, Community Policing Officers are
told to "make periodic press releases identifying significant
accomplishments or citizens who have made a difference in the community in
conjunction with this program."[15] As spin artists in socialist countries
discovered long ago, public celebrations serve their purpose well.
Cooperative citizens must be honored and star participants celebrated.

But not by our Lord. He has a different pathway to peace and justice. Truth
and love -- not gossip or guesswork -- set the standard. And secret reports
from a single witness are banned from His courtroom. Ponder His
instructions:

“You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the
wicked to be an unrighteous witness." Exodus 23:1

“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin
that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be
established." Deuteronomy 19:15

“And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a
false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall
do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away
the evil from among you." Deuteronomy 19:18-19

"By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established." 2
Corinthians 13:1

"For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not
murder,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'You
shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up
in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” Romans
13:9

While Jesus has fulfilled the old Levitical laws by giving His own life, the
Old Testament's moral laws still stand. Affirmed by the New Testament, they
call us to follow the way of Biblical love and justice, not today's
distorted socialist interpretation of justice that justifies slander and
bends God's truth.

But following God in a nation trained to love pleasure and safety more than
truth and integrity will be costly. History shows the high price of
uncompromising faithfulness to the Lord we love. Through the centuries,
man's natural aversion for His humble path has stirred rage, slander and
outright persecution. But never before has the offended world been given
such an opportunity to gratify their grudges without facing the
consequences.

Yet, we need not fear. "In the world you will have tribulation," said Jesus
to His followers, "but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John
16:33